A New Beginning
by JPx
Summary: One Shot. The final battle is over...well almost. How will Harry and friends make it through? RWHG


Disclaimer: Harry Potter and friends are not mine. They're just on loan.

* * *

Harry stumbled out the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Hogwarts, the home Harry had always desperately wanted, was now a ruin of its former self. Voldemort had decided to take the Wizarding School head on, and he had failed. Harry had met the monster who had plagued him since he was just an infant in a duel to fulfill the prophecy…and he had won. 

He tripped over a marble slab that had come loose during the epic battle. He caught himself on a staircase to remain upright. As his right hand grabbed the railing he yelped in pain. During the duel Prior Incantatem had taken place once again. This time though the two wands burst into a thousand flaming pieces of splintered wood. Harry's right hand throbbed with each beat of his heart. He looked down while panting for breath. His left hand was still holding Godric Gryffindor's fabled blade. Only now the pristine metal was coated in blood. Blood was the best word for it even if it was thick, slimy, and green. Fawkes had appeared with the sword right when Harry had almost given up all hope.

He shook his head. It was over, it was finally over. Something felt wrong. Harry reached up and felts his forehead. Instead of the normal feel of his scar he felt something slick. Harry looked to his fingers, they were coated green. It was the green that matched Voldemort's blood. Harry felt again, his scar was gone.

Shaking the odd feeling out of his skull he looked around the castle, but the castle was barren. He had never heard anything like this while inside of the school. Silence was unheard of. He struggled to walk through the entrance hall. He could see the green lawns that were bleached in the blue of night past what used to be the giant double door entrance of this house of education.

As he exited the building he had expected to see the students of the school all waiting to see who had emerged from the battle victorious. What he saw though made his face fall. Students were fighting other students. Death Eaters were engaged in battle with not only the better students (consisting of the DA) but also with the teachers. Harry scanned the new battlefield without seeing who he was looking for.

_Where was Dumbledore?_

Slowly his mind started to click into gear. This fight wasn't right. It was an insult to every good witch and wizard in the country. Harry's Occlumency training to keep his emotions in check was ebbing away as the anger and rage within him fought their way to the surface. His posture straightened. His emerald eyes seemed to spark into a fiery life of their own. Harry could actually feel the magic building around him. Phoenix song filled the young man's ears. He looked around for the source of the calming music, but he couldn't find it. He was grateful though as he could feel the anger being replaced with a calm cool determination.

Harry waved his hand, the magic pulsated through his arm and out towards the fighters. One by one, friend and foe, slumped to the ground fast asleep. Harry stared out to the fallen. With a grim grin he let exhaustion fall upon his shoulders as he too slumped to the ground.

* * *

"Someone get on those fires!" Bill Weasley shouted to the crowd of stunned onlookers. London was burning as the dragons chased the giants through the town. Voldemort had planned on using giants to attack the dragons and the Ministry of Magic at the same time as he attacked Hogwarts. Now though, chaos reigned. The Order of the Phoenix was helping in every way they could, but they were just stretched too thin. Bill, Charlie, and Hagrid were heading up the London fight to regain control of order, but with the giants, dragons, and fires though it seemed to be a losing battle.

What was worse was that the Muggles had noticed something odd going on. The Statute of Secrecy was the last thing on everyone's mind as everyone fought their own battle.

"Stunners on three!" Charlie Weasley yelled out to his team of ten. They had spread out and had surrounded a very agitated Hungarian Horntail.

"One, two, THREE!" he shouted. On his command ten jets of red light sped toward the raging beast's head and body. A few spells ricocheted off the magically protected hide of the animal, but the rest took effect. The dragon's head swayed slightly before crashing down to the concrete below.

A piercing scream reached the ears of the fighters from the street over from them. Charlie set off at a run towards the noise.

"MY BABY!" a Muggle woman was screaming franticly. "HELP ME! MY BABY!" she screamed again.

Charlie looked around. His heart sank as he spied a Common Welsh Green throw its head back and unclench its jaws. Something slid down the dragon's throat. His heart clenched as he yelled, "A dragon's eaten the baby!"

* * *

Remus Lupin and his team had apparated to the next town that looked like it would be attacked by Dementors. He scanned the area around him, but it was useless. The black cloaked Dementors were almost invisible at night. Then a creeping cold set into the werewolf's skin.

"That way," he pointed eastwards. He momentarily closed his eyes. Slowly a small smile tugged at his lips. "Expecto Potronum!" he shouted the spell into the night. A giant shaggy silver dog erupted from the end of his wand. The dog looked around and then seemed to spot its prey. The dog charged the faceless devils along with many other silver animals.

Fate though, didn't seem to be smiling upon the protectors of light. For every potrunus driving trying to drive the demons back, there were fifty Dementors. Remus was losing every good feeling that he possessed. The great shaggy dog on the field was beginning to fade. Some of the Order members were already falling and fainting.

"This is lunacy," he said as a dementor's thing monstrous hands grabbed him by the hem of his robes. The beast was pulling the Marauder's face to its own as it lowered its hood. Lupin's eyes widened in fear, in a few moments he would be worse than dead.

Closer and closer the dementor closed in on the last father figure Harry Potter had left. The rattling of putrid breath was on the face of the werewolf. Anymore, happiness and hope were just meaningless words. He closed his eyes. He prayed that Lily, James, and Sirius could forgive him for failing so miserably. He waited to become another dementor victim, just another of the lost.

But it never came. Instead he fell into a heap on the cold ground. Eerie shrieks began to fill his ears. He opened his eyes only to see a black spectral wolf, with silver highlights coursing through its ghostly fur, chasing the now fleeing Dementors.

"What was that, that," but words failed man.

"She – she blew him up! Poof! Splattered like a niffler on pixie dust!" Tonks answered shakily.

"What, who, how?" the once well spoken Lupin was reduced to monosyllabic stutters.

'Who' turned out to be a very determined looking Luna Lovegood. Her silvery eyes glinted in the moonlight as her wand pointed still towards the distant shrieks of the Dementors.

"Miss Lovegood, how, what happened?" Remus asked nonplussed.

Her eyes never moved as she answered, "This is the charm my mother died trying to perfect. _Patrocinor Per Capio_, the Dementor Killing spell. I've been trying to find you for over an hour professor. I left school as soon as I heard, I knew I could help."

The werewolf smiled weakly, "I'm glad you could make it."

* * *

A week after the final battle between this dark lord and the next found Harry resting in the hospital wing. He had exhausted his body completely after his historical display of wandless magic.

"He put what in _where_?" Fred asked incredulously. His brother George had tears of mirth running down his cheeks.

Alastor Moody, who had been telling the story of the missing Dumbledore, smiled. The smile made his mangled face look even more terrible with his scars than his usual stoic demeanor. Harry grinned from the pillows that were propping him up.

"He completely shrunk the prison of Azkaban into the size of a quaffle," the gruff voice of the former Auror continued, "and put it in the Forbidden Forrest on a golden plate before Hagrid's little brother."

Harry laughed. He had laughed more the past few days than all of his childhood. He had to admit, it felt good. The night of the attack Minister Cornelius Fudge had been killed along with many other high ranking officials. With the Ministry in shambles the light side of the war had an open opportunity to get done what needed to be done.

"I still can't believe Dumbledore would do that to all those people," Harry mumbled. His laughter was now gone.

"I made sure that they were all deserving. Believe me. I've never had to use Legilimency so much in my long life," Dumbledore's long beard twitched.

"What about the school sir?" Harry asked. He was anxious for answers now that the headmaster had returned.

"What about it Harry?" came the questioned reply.

"Will classes resume now?"

"Of that, I have no doubt," Dumbledore answered. He was now at Harry's bedside.

"And Snape?" Harry asked.

"_Professor_ Snape," he paused to let the emphasis on the word professor set in, "will be fulfilling a dream he's had for the past twenty some odd years."

"And what's that?" Fred asked.

"Marry the woman I love," a dark voice came from the doorway.

Harry stared dumbfounded as Professor Snape stepped out of the shadows. Snape, love, well, it just didn't add up.

"Yes Potter, I fell in love many years ago. She is the reason I turned spy for the Headmaster."

Harry still looked too astonished for words. Dumbledore, eyes sparkling madly, gave a gentle nod towards the potions master.

Snape sighed, and then in a low hiss-like voice said, "She is a Muggle woman."

Harry's face contorted from astonishment, to puzzlement, and finally settled in recognition. Maybe it did add up after all.

* * *

When school was over Harry had many plans ahead of him. First on the agenda was to procure a new wand. On his way to Ollivander's wand shop someone approached him. This particular someone had been printing more lies about him since the defeat of Voldemort.

Rita Skeeter bustled through the crowd very hastily, if not violently, towards Harry. Her acid green quill was already in her mouth when she reached him.

"Harry, you've just defeated the Dark Lord! What will you do now?"

Harry sneered at the woman who had attracted a small crowd. He then answered, "Become the NEXT Dark Lord of course!"

A few witches fainted, many wizards gasped, and Rita's Quick Quotes Quill literally exploded. In the middle of the shock lone laughter was heard echoing through the alley.

Harry was doubled over and clutching his sides. For some reason, ever since Voldemort had been vanquished, everything had become much funnier.

After catching his breath Harry said, "I was only kidding. No, what will I do now? I don't know. Live in peace hopefully." And with that he left the crowd outside the shop.

* * *

Harry was never happier than to be the best man of Ronald Weasley. After years of bickering he was finally marrying Hermione. Harry still grinned at how the engagement came about.

During the Christmas after Voldemort was destroyed everyone was in the highest of spirits. Every Weasley had survived the war. Percy had reunited with his family. The twins' business was booming. In fact the twins had brought along some new candies and hidden them strategically within the normal candy. One such new candy was designed to make the recipient spout out some vaguely hidden truths. Obviously Ron had the poor luck to get one of these as he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"ME AND HERMIONE ARE HAVING A BAAABY!"

The resulting silence was priceless. Said priceless silence lasted the sum of five seconds before almost everyone present burst forth to offer congratulations, ask if Hermione was ok, or to tell Ron that if he didn't make her an honest witch he'd lose all ability to have any more children after the first. Harry and Ginny remained on the couch; both had been told when the happy couple first found out.

"Ronald Weasley, you will marry this girl. Or so help me -" Molly Weasley scolded her youngest son.

"Wonder if her face will turn red when she learns that he gave her one," Ginny said in an amused voice.

"Right…wait…what'cha mean he gave her 'one'? 'One' what?" Harry asked.

Ginny replied, "A ring and his wizard's vow to marry her of course."

When the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon Harry happily helped them move into their new flat. Harry offered them one of the houses from the Black estate, but Ron politely refused. Hermione had decided the best way to promote change to the system was from within the system. She had a job at the newly reformed Ministry of Magic. In fact she was the youngest head of a department. The new Muggle/Magical interaction office was needed after the final battle. Hermione was head of the department, while Arthur Weasley decided to try out the Muggle – Magical Integration program. Which was combining technology and magic, he has never been happier at work.

Ron, with his history making Hogwarts Quidditch season as captain, managed a coaching position with the Chudley Cannons. They are finally coming out of a many year slump.

Much to Harry's surprise five years after his graduation he received a letter. It wasn't the fact he got a letter that surprised him, but the fact that the letter was addressed in green ink caught his attention. He broke the familiar Hogwarts seal and read, his voice hitching in his throat periodically.

_Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,_

_After discussion with Minerva McGonagall it is my great joy to write you this letter. As I am stepping down from the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall will be stepping up. While we have many other positions opening, I personally would like to offer you the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Room and meals are of course provided, and we can discuss wages if you are interested. It is also my great privilege to be able to offer to you the Head of Gryffindor position along with your Professorship. If you are interested, please let us know by 1 July so we can get your lesson plans, book lists, and room in order by the start of the school year._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Professor Albus Dumbledore_

_(Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as many other titles…)_

During Harry's first class as a professor he was asked the question that he would most be asked during his time at Hogwarts. The class was his very own first year Gryffindors. A small hand had shot up, reminding him forcefully of Hermione; Harry called on the small girl.

"Professor Potter," her small voice squeaked. Then her eyes hardened slightly in determination. Harry could visibly see her resolving herself. "Professor Potter, what happened to your scar?"

* * *

A/N: This is from The New Beginnings Challenge. Let me know what ya'll think. After a reread maybe its a little random and rushed. Oh well... 


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